September 04, 2008

30 days of summer :: 15

Okay, I'm really not trying to be cheesy, but I had a realization the other day that I am living the life I have dreamed of for so long! I've wanted to live on a farm in NH for, well, just about my whole life (or at least ever since I read Little House on the Prairie), and I have a distinct memory of sharing this dream one night with my sort-of boyfriend, D. We were sitting in my 1987 Volvo 240 station wagon, parked at the train station in Beverly Farms just down the road from our college, waiting to pick up D's roommate on the late train home from Boston. We talked about having a farm, growing our own food, practicing hospitality to neighbors near and far, generally living out the Wendell Berry vision... :) And then, seven years later, here we are. It's not utopia, and we have a lot of work ahead of us to realize the fullness of our dream. But after feeling a bit like we've been stumbling around in fits and starts for much of the last few years, all of a sudden the journey doesn't feel quite so random, and seven years doesn't sound like a long time at all. I feel this sense of confidence welling up within me, that I can make decisions about my life and follow through on them. The sociologist in me names this feeling a sense of agency, and it sure feels good!

So here's to all our dreams, those spoken and those held deep within. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it... Happy dream-chasing!

Comments

30 days of summer :: 15

Okay, I'm really not trying to be cheesy, but I had a realization the other day that I am living the life I have dreamed of for so long! I've wanted to live on a farm in NH for, well, just about my whole life (or at least ever since I read Little House on the Prairie), and I have a distinct memory of sharing this dream one night with my sort-of boyfriend, D. We were sitting in my 1987 Volvo 240 station wagon, parked at the train station in Beverly Farms just down the road from our college, waiting to pick up D's roommate on the late train home from Boston. We talked about having a farm, growing our own food, practicing hospitality to neighbors near and far, generally living out the Wendell Berry vision... :) And then, seven years later, here we are. It's not utopia, and we have a lot of work ahead of us to realize the fullness of our dream. But after feeling a bit like we've been stumbling around in fits and starts for much of the last few years, all of a sudden the journey doesn't feel quite so random, and seven years doesn't sound like a long time at all. I feel this sense of confidence welling up within me, that I can make decisions about my life and follow through on them. The sociologist in me names this feeling a sense of agency, and it sure feels good!

So here's to all our dreams, those spoken and those held deep within. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it... Happy dream-chasing!